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Friday, May 30, 2014

It just doesn't get much easier than these Grilled Zucchini and Sausage Kabobs!

(For Phase One Fridays I feature Phase One Recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and this recipe for World's Easiest Grilled Zucchini and Sausage Kabobs is something I've made over and over with beef, chicken, or turkey sausage.)

It's time to be breaking out the grill, and unless you're brand new to my blog, it's probably pretty obvious that I love grilling. But some nights you just want an easy dinner, so I hope you enjoy this updated recipe for kabobs that I've used many times with different types of sausage, and truly, these have to be the easiest kabobs in the world. There are a few ways you can do the kabobs, depending on how much time you want to invest, but even if you just stick the sausage and veggies on skewers, brush with Italian salad dressing, and grill, this is a pretty good tasting easy dinner.

I call the recipe Zucchini and Sausage Kabobs, because the red bell peppers or red onions are definitely optional, but they're good if you have some. If you have time, cut up veggies in advance and marinate in a little bit of Italian salad dressing.

When it's time to assemble kabobs, drain the marinated veggies. (You can skip the marinating step entirely and just brush the vegetables with dressing, but marinating does add more flavor.)

I like to cut the sausage and zucchini on the diagonal, which gives more surface area to get browned on the grill. If you have larger zucchini too big for just diagonal cutting, be sure you cut them so there is at least some skin on each piece to help prevent spinning on the skewers. These were beef sausages from Costco; use chicken or turkey sausage if you prefer. 5th Street Grill Italian Turkey Sausage or Sabatinos Smoked Mozzarella Chicken Sausage with Artichokes and Garlic would both be good in this recipe. (Look for gluten-free sausage if needed.)

When I'm grilling skewers that are packed with meat and veggies like this, I find it hard to lift the loaded skewers and turn them. Instead, I use tongs to lift the skewer, then use a fork to rotate pieces. I grilled the kabobs in the photo about 16 minutes, turning the vegetables and sausage several times.

World's Easiest Grilled Zucchini and Sausage Kabobs
(Instructions to make as many kabobs as you'd like, recipe created by Kalyn.)

Ingredients:
pre-cooked pork, beef, chicken, or turkey sausages, 1 per person
medium-size zucchini, 1 per person (use zucchini that's close to the same diameter as the sausage if possible)
Optional: red bell pepper pieces or red onion pieces to alternate with the sausage and zucchini
Italian salad dressing with soybean oil or olive oil for marinating kabobs or brushing on as you grill (choose dressing with not more than 2 carbs per serving for South Beach Diet)

Instructions if you're marinating vegetables:

Cut zucchini and any other vegetables you're using into same-size pieces, cutting zucchini on the diagonal if possible. Put vegetables into ziploc bag and pour in enough Italian dressing to moisten all the vegetables. (I used about 1/4 cup for the veggies in the photo.) Let vegetables marinate for an hour or so, or even all day if desired. (Refrigerate if marinating for more than an hour.)

Instructions to cook kabobs:

Brush gas or charcoal grill grates with olive oil and preheat grill or broiler to medium heat (you can hold your hand there about 3 seconds at that heat.) Cut sausage into diagonal chunks, about five pieces per sausage. Drain marinated vegetables, or cut vegetables into pieces if you didn't marinate.

Thread sausage and vegetables onto skewers, alternating, and putting the skewer through the skin of the sausage and veggies so they won't spin around as much. You can brush kabobs with Italian Salad Dressing if you didn't marinate the vegetables. Grill kabobs over medium heat, turning the sausage and vegetables frequently by lifting one end of the skewer with tongs and turning vegetables with a fork. (I find this easier than lifting the whole kabob and turning it, but you can also turn them that way if you prefer.)

Kabobs are done when sausage is browned but zucchini and other vegetables are barely tender, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

To make this recipe suitable for the South Beach Diet, use lower-fat pre-cooked chicken or turkey sausage. If you're using lower-fat sausage, be extra careful to oil the grill before you heat it, and you may want to brush the sausage pieces with olive oil to prevent sticking. Also, be sure to choose Italian dressing with not more than 2 grams of carbs for South Beach.

Nutritional Information?
I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe intoCalorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

More Tasty Ideas with Kabobs on the Grill:
(Recipes from other blogs not always South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

Blogger Disclosure:
Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and Kalyn's Kitchen earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

26 comments:

I think I am going to try these tonight for dinner. I have a lot of zucchini from my CSA and I have a feeling it's going to keep coming! I really like your site, it looks like a great source for healthy recipes - I am going to add a link. I started a new food blog last month and I'm having a great time with it, feel free to stop on by anytime! :-)

Hi Kalyn - I made the skewers and they were great! Thanks for the idea. I used some chicken based Italian sausages from Trader Joes, zucchini, peppers and sweet onion. To go with, I made a yummy salad with watermelon goat cheese arugula and mint that I think I will submit for weekend herb blogging.

Also - thanks for visiting my blog and for your compliments! Happy 4th!

Paul. the main reason for cooked sausage is simply because the raw sausage is hard to cut and even harder to thread on the skewers and would spin around, making it hard to get cooked evenly. If you had double skewers, raw sausage might work just fine. I also have something called kabob baskets which would work with the raw sausage. I haven't tried it with raw sausage, but I also wonder if the veggies would get overdone in the time it would take to get the raw sausage cooked? Let me know if you try it with raw sausage.

Thank you Kalyn! I just found your blog and am very happy I did :) I am attempting to change my family's eating habits for the better. I am going to sneak the SBD on them-this looks like it will be a family favorite and easy for me to prepare.

These look so good. I am going to try them out tonight. I have raw sausages, so I will cook them up first before slicing them and putting them on the kabob. I just want you to know that I found your blog recently when I was looking for South Beach recipes online. My mom and I have both been on the diet for 2 months now and we have tried a bunch of your recipes out. Thank you so much!!!

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

I've recently changed my comment settings so people can comment without signing in, but you will need to check the box to show you're a live person, and comments on older posts won't show up until I publish them. Thanks for understanding!

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